A Strange Miracle

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True Story

“When you have done all to stand, stand …”

To tell this story, I must let go of my ego and make a very personal confession: God gave me a testimony, a strange miracle, and I aim to proclaim it … even though it’s a little embarrassing: 

A Strange Problem

I was getting ready for school one morning, and I realized in a panic that something was missing. My dental partial plate was not in the bathroom cup where it was supposed to be. (Yes, some of my teeth are not real due to an infection I carried in my jaw unaware.) It was also not in “place number 2”–the only other place I might have put it. Believe me, that partial plate is something I take very good care of because it affects the way I look and it is extremely expensive.

I quickly searched everywhere in the house where I might have been since the previous evening, and found nothing. Even though it was ridiculous, I also searched the trash, the car, the porch, the driveway, and the potted plants. I even took a walk through the basement. 

Nothing. No hint. No partial plate anywhere. 

A Temporary Solution

This was a horror to me: to face junior high and high school students looking like an October jack-o-lantern. Thankfully, I had retained a rubber tooth guard (the athletic kind) from the time right after I had the teeth pulled. It didn’t look great, but I knew if I kept my distance from everyone, it wouldn’t really be noticed.  As long as I didn’t smile, all would be well. (Where were those covid masks when I needed them?)

I went to school, and my husband continued to search the house for me. He also found nothing.

Attempting to Solve a Strange Mystery

In the days that followed, I cleaned that house like a fool, knowing the partial plate would show up, that somehow, God would provide a miracle. In addition, every day I prayed, petitioned, begged, and pleaded, that God would lead me to that partial plate.

Time went on, and there was no miracle, and no dental plate.

A week passed. I began to praise God that it was found, “calling things that are not as though they were.” I asked others to pray for me to be able to find what I had lost (I didn’t tell the details–I was so self-conscious), and they prayed, too. 

No word, no sign, no miracle.

I fasted for three days. 

Nada.

It wasn’t just my ego by that point. That dental plate kept my other teeth from loosening. It helped me to eat. And I did not have the money to replace it. 

A Desperate Prayer for a Strange Miracle

Finally one morning, in total frustration (and I don’t recommend this, but I know that God understands our emotions–even the negative ones), instead of my morning prayers, I looked toward heaven and yelled, “OK, Lord. I have done everything I know to do. People know I am trusting You for this answer. Now it’s Your reputation on the line, not mine!” Then I stomped off to get dressed.

A Strange Miracle

The weather had turned chilly, so I went to the closet and pulled out a sweater that I had not worn in months … not a fuzzy sweater that might catch something in its threads or a piece of clothing that had been laying out waiting to be worn … and as I took the sweater off the hanger … my dental partial plate dropped on the floor at my feet.

This is not, in any way, an exaggeration. What do I think happened? A miracle–a strange miracle.

My problem was not a matter of life and death. It was not something that couldn’t have been worked out, in time. Maybe I just had to learn to give up relying on my own efforts and realize that there are some things that are totally out of my control and out of my ability to fix. 

I went to the very edge of my faith, then God took over. He showed up and showed off a little–He sent me a strange miracle. Why did He do it this way? How did the plate get into such an odd place? WHAT HAPPENED?  

I don’t know.

God Sends A Strange Miracle, Sometimes

However, I do know that He loves me. I know He loves you, too. So if you’re hanging on for a miracle, even if it’s a strange miracle, don’t give up. Hang in there like a rusty fishhook. And “when you have done all you can to stand, stand.” Trust me. God has your need and your provision under control.

When I think of the biblical accounts of miracles and how God brought them about, I guess they’re all a little strange. Strange … miraculous … and wonderful … that’s the way of our God!

God bless you, and may your miracle come, strange as it may be.